Spring
by localsportsteam
Summary: Spring time has come, and so has Max's litter of six adorable puppies.
1. Chapter 1

"Wait, you didn't know your own dog had a girlfriend?" Ariel giggled, picking up three of the puppies and squeezing them in a hug.

"I didn't know she was his girlfriend! There was just sometimes another dog!" Eric laughed, tending to the other three; scratching their little ears. "There's so many."

"That is the opposite of a problem." Ariel insisted. "Six puppies! Six cute little puppies! Look at them! Such tiny feet, and they have four of them!" She picked up one of the dogs and looked it in the eyes. "Well done!"

Eric laughed and reached over to scratch Max's head. "Well done to you too, the proud papa!"

"To you as well, madam." Ariel scratched the mother's tummy.

Max barked appreciatively, and the golden retriever, which Ariel, had named Sandy, responded as well.

"Whatever will we do with them?" Ariel asked.

"Well, good news about a palace, we have nothing but space." Eric shrugged. "I guess we'll keep the family together."

"Yay!" Ariel exclaimed. "A palace of puppies!"

…

It became not just a palace of puppies, but a palace for puppies. Their toys were littered everywhere, the dogs scampered about, and Ariel and Eric were trying their best just to keep up! They'd have to try and make sure all the dogs got fed, and kept their collars on, and were outside regularly. They couldn't be outside all day, because they'd get dehydrated, but if they were inside all day they would chew.

Ariel had made each dog a different color collar, and gave them each their own name.

"Okay, so here's Sunshine." Ariel picked one dog up off the beach and hugged it against her stomach.

"I've got Summer and Sand." Eric called back, scooping up two of the dogs.

"Sunflower!"

"Sailboat."

"Jenkins."

Eric snorted. "I can't believe you let Grim name one. 'Jenkins'."

Ariel laughed too, but kissed the puppy's head to let it know it was still loved. "Grim was so excited about these little guys – I couldn't say – _no_!"

With one little wiggle, Jenkins had freed himself from Ariel's grasp, and the rest of the dogs gleefully wriggled out and sprinted after him.

"Eric, the dogs!" Ariel ran after the three of them, but they split up and had a head start. Eric put the three dogs he was holding in their basket. Said "stay!" and hoped, for once, that they'd listen, and ran down the beach after Ariel, Sunshine, Sunflower, and Jenkins.

The pair eventually gathered up the running pups, and brought them back to the basket, only to find that, of course, those dogs had scampered up to. An hour of hunting later, all the pups were gathered up and ready for dinner, while Ariel and Eric were ready to _sleep_.

"You two can't be going to bed already!" Carlotta chuckled, after the two bid her good night. "It's only eight o' clock!"

"Taking care of puppies is a lot of work." Eric laughed, then yawned.

"Fun, but, yeah." Ariel agreed, her sentence falling apart at the end as she yawned.

…

"Oh, am I tired! Those dogs are fast!" Ariel laughed sliding into bed and sinking into the mattress.

"And they outnumber us!" Eric laughed, flopping down on the bed and laying an arm over his eyes. "All these dogs, it's eight to two!"

"Well," Ariel rolled on her hip and knocked his arm off his eyes. "Eight to three, soon."

"You don't mean…" Eric sat up excitedly, suddenly feeling very alert.

Ariel laid a hand on her lower belly. "Who knows, maybe we'll outnumber them soon enough."


	2. Chapter 2

**So like a month ago someone asked me to write a sequel to this, and considering that most of my multi chapter fics are kind of more on the emotional side, we could all probably use some cute. So here's another fluffy, sunny, puppy-filled fic chapter.**

"This must be the smallest human in the world." Ariel said definitively.

It was only a few hours after Melody's birth, and everything had finally calmed down and been cleaned up. It was just before sunrise, and Ariel and Eric leaned against each other, sitting in a king-sized bed, swaddled up in pillows and blankets like they were children themselves.

"She's perfect." Eric breathed, touching the little mess of hair on her head (it was as dark as his!) or looking into her deep blue eyes (almost the shade of her mothers'!)

"Eric," Ariel cooed, her voice almost choking. "Look at her _feet."_ Ariel used only the pressure of a pointer finger to lift up Melody's left foot. "They're perfect! Ten small toes, two small feet, little rolley polley legs." Ariel scooted her daughter closer. "They're perfect. She's perfect."

"Were you afraid she'd get scales?" Eric laughed.

"No!" Ariel exclaimed. "Well, not much, anyway." She scooped Melody up in her arms, who had just gone to sleep. "She's be perfect, regardless."

"I've never heard the castle this quiet."

Ariel chuckled. "Well, enjoy it while you can."

"Yeah, I head newborns generally aren't the type for sitting around quietly."

"She's quiet now, but only to lull us into a false sense of security." Ariel joked.

"She'll get us."

"She's got us!"

The family sat quietly, admiring their newest addition. The sun had come up in welcoming warmth, flooding into the room and basking them in it. Melody woke, wriggling a little in her purple blanket. She cooed, and looked up at her parents, and they felt their hearts melt and blend together in front of them. They could all smell the salt of the sea and the graham cracker sand, but Melody, being a newborn, could not attach words to it – only enjoy it.

It was a serene moment, and then it ended.

With the scampering of paws, sounds of skidding, and Grimsby's hopeless exclamation of "Jenkins! This is beneath you!", Max, Sandy, and their litter came pouring into the room to see the child.

Just under two years had passed from the birth of Max and Sandy's litter, so the dogs were big enough to run as fast as their parents, smart enough to evade Grimsby, Carlotta, and anyone else who tried to stop them, and, as Ariel and Eric learned just now, tall enough to jump up onto the bed.

Max placed his paws up by Eric, and before he could go "Hey, stay down bud!" six dogs scampered up onto the large bed, fumbling their way over. The dogs sniffed and yipped and padded their way on over, and Ariel held Melody closer to her chest in order to keep her daughter from being stepped on or accidently scratched.

"Hey, come on!" Eric tried to herd the dogs off the bed, pushing back Sunshine and Sailboat. The dogs would take a few directed steps back, then go around Eric's arm and continue forward. They too wished to see the child.

"Careful, guys!" Ariel warned, holding Melody up higher, but the dogs, being dogs, didn't really understand. At least, not more than 'dinner', 'outside', and 'treat'.

Jenkins got up closest to Ariel, stretched up to see Melody, sniffed, then plopped down on Ariel's lap. The other dogs all but followed suit, sniffing their way over and collapsing on top and around Ariel and Eric.

"They outnumber us." Eric whispered.

"And we can't fight them. They're dogs." Ariel whispered back. Both giggled, and Ariel lowered Melody down for them to inspect.

The dogs did not bound forward, thankfully, but sniffed their approval. Sailboat licked Melody's cheek, and the girl gurgled happily.

Both Eric and Ariel exhaled, not even aware they were holding their breath.

"You like your new friends?" Ariel asked Melody, as her daughter squirmed to get closer to them.

"I'm thinking that a yes." Eric smiled as Melody let out an excited gurgle when Jenkins licked her.

Ariel turned Melody around, propping her up against her stomach, and let the girl and dogs interact.

By the time Carlotta and Grimsby slid into the room, slightly out of breath, the whole family was piled up in the bed, laughing and enjoying what would be the first of many, many perfect mornings to come.

Review, please!


End file.
